A temporary cap may now be in place, but National Incident Commander, Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Friday that debris at the bottom of a relief well could delay the planned ‘static kill’ to shut off the Deepwater Horizon well once and for all.
Allen reiterated his and BP’s cleanup crews determination to “see this thing through to the finish,” and that he would work with local authorities to determine the standards that crews will work under when cleaning up beaches affected by the Gulf oil spill.
However, the debris, which found its way into the bottom of the relief well due to storms, has Allen cautious. “The greatest concern to us right now is the relief well,” he said. Only once the debris is cleared, “that’s when we can truly end this threat to the environment in the Gulf.”
The debris could push back the date officials want to conduct the static kill to Monday or Tuesday, said Allen.
]]>President Barack Obama defended his administration’s decision to provide federal aid for the auto-industry during an address Friday morning at a Chrysler assembly plant in Detroit.
“In the 12 months before I took office, the American auto industry…looked like it was going over a cliff,” said Obama. “Chrysler and GM were on the brink of liquidation.”
He recalled the criticism he received in Washington last year for his decision to provide federal funding. Obama said that if the government had not bailed out Chrysler and GM, an estimated 1 million jobs would have been lost in the middle of the recession.
Furthermore, Obama said that the industry is recovering, creating more jobs, and adding more shifts at assembly plants to meet the demand. He emphasized to the crowd of auto workers that the nearby Sterling Heights Chrysler plant, which was scheduled to close in 2012, will stay open. He was met with loud applause.
“Today, for the first time since 2004, all three U.S. automakers [GM, Chrysler, and Ford] are operating at a profit,” said Obama. “You are proving the naysayers wrong.”
The President wanted the audience to remember those who were against government intervention in the auto industry.
“If some folks [Republicans] had their way, none of this would be happening,” said Obama. “This plant and your jobs might not exist.”
Obama is also scheduled to visit the Ford plant August 5th.
]]>Even after the House Ethics Committee charged Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) with over a dozen rules violations, the embattled former Ways and Means Chair continued to voice his innocence.
“Even though they are serious charges, I’m prepared to prove that the only thing I’ve ever had in my 50 years of public service is service,” Rangel told reporters Thursday night.
Today on Capitol Hill, however, Rangel received mixed reviews from folks.
“As important as Rangel is to the Democrats and for someone who has served so long, he has deeply disappointed the people who voted for him and it has put serious distrust in the Democratic Party, said James Davis, a resident of Walhalla, South Carolina.”
Several Democrats, even leaders like House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), urged Rangel to reach a settlement with the committee to avoid the prospect of televised hearings right before the November elections. Byron, Illinois resident Susanne Smith told Talk Radio News Service that she believes Rangel’s trial will hurt the Democrats in the midterms.
“I don’t think people will really remember the outcome of this trial but it will definitely shed a lot of negative light on the Democratic Party,” she said.
Despite the laundry list of charges, some don’t believe Rangel, 80, is guilty. Mark Davidson from Germantown, Maryland said people should not rush to judgments over Rangel.
“Those are just allegations, nothing is set in stone,” he said. “In our country everyone is innocent until they are proven guilty with cold hard evidence, and people should remember that!”
Others out there think putting Rangel on trial is a waste of taxpayer time and money.
“Yes this is important, but there are many other things going on in the world - the wars overseas, problems with our economy - that are much more important than this that our government should really be focusing on,” said Eric Cho of Gaithersburg, Maryland.
]]>The Chief of Staff for the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, located predominantly in northern Iraq, called upon the U.S. to take a less dominant role as the Iraqi government forms.
“The United States must not take the initiative in forming the Iraqi government, that’s not good for the United States, and its not good for Iraq,” said Fuad Hussein during a discussion with the Atlantic Council in D.C. Friday.
“But if we take the initiative… It is important to have the UN there and also the United States…the ground must be well prepared for negotiations,” Hussein added.
It is his belief that the U.S. should act more as an arbitrator to help bring the political parties of Iraq together, and have a very limited role in determining policy. He did concede, however, that the U.S. is needed to provide security from terrorism, influence from neighboring countries like Iran and the division among Iraqi people.
“We can not secure [Iraq], the threat of terrorism is still there, intervention from various countries is still there, influence of various neighboring countries is still there, we are still divided until 2011… Security wise we need to have good relationships and agreements with the outside world,” said Hussein.
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45 years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare, the social insurance safety-net, into law.
President Barack Obama marked the anniversary by issuing a proclamation lauding the program and pledging its continued support under his administration.
“As President, I will protect the promise of Medicare and Medicaid, and make sure they continue to be strong and solvent for our children and grandchildren,” Obama wrote.
The President also took the anniversary as an opportunity to tout the health care reform legislation he signed into law this March.
“The health care reforms in the landmark Affordable Care Act (ACA) renew and strengthen our pledge to America’s seniors and families, ensuring Medicare and Medicaid will be there when they need it,” the proclamation states.
Also acknowledging the milestone, the Republican National Committee issued their own statement charging that Medicare will be slashed under the new health care law and accusing Obama of backtracking on his pledge to seniors to protect the program.
“Happy 45h Birthday, Medicare!” the statement reads. “President Obama gave plenty of “gifts” to seniors on Medicare this year.”
The complaint filed Wednesday by the Commission states, “Sam Wyly and Charles Wyly engaged in a 13 year fraudulent scheme to hold and trade tens of millions of securities of public companies while they were members of the boards of directors.”
The Dallas-based Wylys founded the software company Sterling Silver, which the SEC claims the brothers attempted to defraud along with Scottish Annuity and Life Holdings Ltd. and Michaels Stores, Inc.
Also ensnared in the charges are the brothers’ lawyer Michael C. French and stockbroker Louis J. Schaufele III.
Aside from their roles as entrepreneurs, the Wylys are known as major donors to Conservative causes. According to the watchdog site OpenSecrets.org, the brothers have provided GOP candidates and committees with more than $2 million over the last two decades.
The SEC’s complaint can be read here.
]]>National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen spent Thursday morning with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Parish presidents from the Gulf region.
Speaking with reporters, the former Coast Guard official explained that the leaders had discussed and agreed upon three major issues: “to assess how we can move forward from response to recovery,” and to refine the team’s hurricane preparedness plans following Tropical Storm Bonnie in such a way that the command will be able to respond to more varied degrees of storm systems, and to develop a “joint vessel of opportunity employment plan,” said Allen.
“Vessels of opportunity” are generally local commercial boats that have been put out of work by the spill, and subsequently employed by the response team, explained Allen. Unfortunately, the joint command will need to move to employing more specialized contractors in the near future, leaving many of these vessels out of work yet again.
The meeting also provided leaders the opportunity to voice their concerns over the large amount of boom that has yet to be deployed, which could end up further harming marshlands if not removed before any intense storm, explained Allen.
Allen further reported that BP’s next attempt to stop the leak, known as the “static kill,” may be implemented sooner than Monday, as authorities had initially expected. The static kill is similar to the top kill method, which BP had attempted but failed to implement earlier in the leak, but has a better chance of success, say authorities, due to the reduced pressure of the leak and the engineering of the “stacking cap” that is now keeping the leak contained.
]]>Though a $59 supplemental bill that funds continued military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan passed earlier this week, 102 Democrats voted against it. Several of them expressed their dissatisfaction with continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan on Thursday.
“Osama Bin Laden remains at large, the terrorist threat is alive and well, [and] Afghanistan remains in the grips of crushing poverty,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif). “This is now the longest war in our nation’s history, and the longer we stay, the worse it gets.”
Dr. Robert A. Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago and expert on terrorism and insurgency, offered a 3-year plan to end U.S. occupation in the country. The first year of the plan involves empowering local Afghan groups for self-protection while decreasing troops on the ground. In the second year, the plan places the position of forces in the North and West regions before finally withdrawing troops in the third year.
“This is the policy we should be pursuing in Afghanistan,” he said.
Rep. Michael Honda (D-Calif.) pointed out that the U.S. spent 103 months in Vietnam, and the U.S. is currently in its 105th month of military aggression in Afghanistan.
Woolsey used public dissatisfaction with the war to urge a change in strategy.
“The American people are running out of patience, and with 114 members of the House voting…against the war…Congress is beginning to catch up to the public,” she said.
“It is time to try something new.”
]]>“The battlefield consequences of the release of these documents are potentially severe and dangerous for our troops, our allies and Afghan partners,” Gates told reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon.
Gates characterized the revelation of hundreds of Afghan informants, whose names are included in the documents, as “one of the worst aspects” of the scandal.
“I’ve spent most of my life in the intelligence business where the sacrosanct principle is protecting your sources,” Gates, who served as CIA Director under George Bush Sr., said. “As a result of this massive breach of security, we have considerable repair work to do in terms of reassuring people and rebuilding trust.”
Gates pledged to aggressively investigate the leak and, if possible, prosecute the responsible party, adding that he has requested the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. When asked by a reporter if the Defense Department has spoken with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Gates simply said that he was not sure.
“I’m not sure why we would,” Gates added. “Do you think he would tell us the truth?”
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